Will Intel’s new KabyLake and CannonLake CPU’s create a desktop demand shortage in late 2016 and late 2017?

The latest Intel desktop roadmap that was initially leaked the end of 2015, it features two upcoming processor generations from the chip giant, KabyLake and CannonLake. Published by Benchlife, the 2016-2017 mobility roadmap shows three generations of processors, these include the currently available Skylake processors which are going to be replaced by the KabyLake and its follow-up CannonLake which launches next year.

Kaby Lake Ready For 2016 Launch

Intel’s Skylake processors launched back in Q3 2015 and were aimed specifically at the new Windows 10 based platforms. Intel now aims to expand the scalability of their chip architecture by having the same DNA on top-end and entry level systems. Intel has a range of SKUs based on their Skylake architecture but moving forward, as 10 nm approaches, Intel plans to outdo themselves with even more scalable solutions. Where the lowest power 4.5 watt chips will deploy a full-fledged architecture that’s currently found on their enterprise class Xeon chips.

Right now, Intel has a massive storage lineup of Skylake chips aimed at the consumer market, later this year, they will be expanding this lineup towards enterprise, workstation and high-end desktop markets which has a large number of users that prefer their chips. In fact, Intel dominates the high-end processor market so well that there is little to no competition.

Intel’s 10-Core Monster

According to the leaked slide, Intel wants to refresh their processor lineup as early as Q3 2016. This will mark the introduction of Kaby Lake, the 7th generation processor family. Intel is also expecting to have mobile chips ready by that time and will be introduced into several mobility solutions such as Ultrabooks and two-in-ones (2in1). This is just about when Back-To-School season starts and they will be looking at a variety of options from OEM partners.

In November 2015, Digital Trends article “Intel’s 10-Core Monster Planned for Q2 2016” reported on a leaked invoice sheet with details of a new Broadwell-E CPU for Q2 2016 release for 6, 8, and 10-core monsters, that had also been leaked from Chinese tech site Benchlife.

While the Broadwell-E line is rumored to include as many as seven different chips, the star of the show is definitely the i7-6950X. this 10-Core chip supports Hyper-Threading for a total of 20 threads, and sports 25MB of total cache. The other CPUs in the lineup boast six or eight cores, all with Hyper-Threading, and total cache ranges from 15 to 25MB.

The new chips will sit in the same LGA2011-v3 socket as the now fading Haswell-E line, but may require a firmware update to function correctly. The chips will also have the same 140W TDP, so there’s no need to upgrade the PSU for increased power consumption. The new chips support DDR4 RAM of 2133 or 2400MHz, up from 1866 and 2133 under Haswell-E.

Although the Broadwell-E chips might be the most exciting leak on the Intel roadmap, it also details some other releases for 2016, including the Kaby Lake-U and Kaby Lake-S lines, which should see the inside of machines in Q3 and Q4 respectively. At the SoC level, the Apollo Lake chips are set to replace Cherry Lake in late Q2 2016, expanding the 6.5W TDP to a range of 6-10W.

Users looking to put a Broadwell-E chip into their machine should brace their wallets for impact. Initial reports say the basic Broadwell-E chips will retail for around $400, with eight-core CPUs running closer to $600. In search of the ten-core 6950X? That chip will easily break a grand, especially considering the Haswell-E top chips still retail for well over $1,000.

Of course, Intel has yet to confirm any info on the new Broadwell-E line, but it appears that the cat is out of the bag now. With an early 2016 release, it won’t be long before Intel breaks the silence.

Over recent months the slow-pace of innovation, especially mobile, has hinted that something was on the horizon and now indications are that it’s going to be a very interesting year for mobile and desktop technology.

The all-pervasive Digital Era is about to change gears, and each time we experience such an event; more individuals are abandoned on the other side of the Divide. Again, this shift will effect Cultures, National & International Laws as well as the General Public, Governments, Government Officials and even Law Enforcement.

It’s up to each individual to get a little Tech-savvy for their own wellbeing and that of their loved ones.